Improved condenser



G. A. JASPER.

CONDENSER FOR STEAM ENGINES.

No. 43,413. Patented July 5, 1864.

rrrr AnonAL LITHOGRAPHING COMPANY,

Nita-n ATENT *rrca.

'G-USTAVUS J ASPER, OF OHARLESTOWN, MASSAGHUSETTS.

'iMPaovso conoensgsa.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,413, dated July 5, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

7 Be it known that I, GusTAvUs A. JASPER, a resident of Gharlestown, inthe county ,of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,-have invented a new and uscful'Oondensin g Apparatus for SteamEngines, and particularly 1 vertical section, of it.

My invention consists in an improved combination, composed of a condenser, a wateret pipe, an atmospheric counterbalance-pipe,

and anoverflow-cistern, arranged andcon- ,structed substantially in manner and sov as to operate together as hereinafter explained.

The purpose ofmyimproved condensing apparatus is to dispense with a pump for relieving a condenser from water, and to efi'ect the abstraction of waterat little or no expense comparatively, and by the action of gravity and a column of water upheld in a pipe by "atmospheric pressure. My improved con--- denser is specially useful in sugar-refineries and other works which require numerous small steam-engines for the performance of various operations, and which need much. hot water for manufacturing 01.0ther purposes. The exhaust-pipe of such engines may lead to and open into such condenser, so as to discharge their steam into it. In this way there will be much water and heat saved which under other circumstances would be lost, all or most of which may be utilized to advantage. By dispensing with a pump for freeing the condenser of water there results agreat saving of expense, as in' most condensing-engines the pumpfor removing-the water from the condenser has to be of large dimensions, and requires an ex- J penditure of much power to put and maintain it in operation.

in the drawings, A represents a condensingvessel or'closed hollow drum, provided with a,

- safety-valve, as represented at 0i Itmay also have an air-pump conduit, D,.leading outv of its top and to an air-pump, for the pur-, pose of enabling air to be extracted from and in order to produce a vacuum within it. Out ofithe bottom of the vessel A a pipe, E, leads and extends downward into a closed cistern,

F, and nearly to the bottom of the same, the

lower as well as the upper extremity of the said pipeE being open. The induction-tube of the feed pump of a steam-boiler may enter the vessel F at G at a distance from the bottom of the vessel equal to or about equal to one-thirdof the altitude-of the cistern. At

7 or near the top of the cistern B there should be an overflow opening or pipe, H, leading out; of such cistern. In practice, the bottomof the A should be situated thirty-two feet or more above the entrance G of theinductionpipe of the steam-boilerfeeding-pump, when such may be used,'or' at or about at that distance above the overflow when such pump may be .dispensed with. It is intended that the exhaust pipe or pipes of one or more steam-engines shall lead directly into the condenser A, which may have one or more connections, a a, for applying such pipe or pipes to it.

In the operation of this apparatus, the exhaust-steam from the engine or engines will flow into the condenserA and be condensed therein by the currents of cold water or the spray which may be led into it through the pipe B, the air introduced within the condenser being extracted through the pipe D and by anair-pump. I The steam so condensed,

as well as the water employed to effect its condensation, will flow into and down the pipe E and into the cistern E, and so long as there may bea vacuum within the condenser A water will stand in the pipe E or in the same and the vessel A at about thirty two feet. above the, level of the water within the cistern F, the said water being forced up the pipe E or maintained within the same by atmospheric pressure exerted on the sun face of the water which maybe within the vessel.

Such of the heated water of the cistern F as it may be desirable to return the boiler of or boilers of the engines may be drawn from it through the pipeGi The balance will rise within the cistern and escape through the overflow .openin g or pipe H, and may be either suffered to run to waste or be utilized, as circumstances may require.

From the above it will be seen that the pipe E and the cistern F, when there is a vacuum in the condenser A, not only afford a mean of discharging Water therefrom by its own gravity, but they maintain within them a column of water which connterbalanccs the press- 'ure of the atmosphere. The surplus Water beyond this counterbalancing-colnmn will esctpe from the condenser and flow down the pipeE and into the cistern I With my improved. condensing apparatus nearly all the Water used in condensing the steam will by its own gravity be caused to flow away from the condenser, the remainder or condensed steam being returned to the boiler by a pump or other suitable means.

I am aware of the invention of Rennie, as

B. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

